Dodger Notebook : Older and Richer, Valenzuela Says He’s Same Pitcher

He is not bewildered by English anymore. And he has about $1,580,000 more in his pocket than he did then.

Otherwise, Fernando Valenzuela doesn’t see much difference between being here now and six years ago, when he arrived for his first spring training as a Dodger.

“In 1980, I don’t understand nothing,” he said Sunday after pitching three hitless innings in the Dodgers’ 6-1 exhibition win over the Houston Astros before 5,690 in Holman Stadium.

“Now, I understand a little bit more than I did my first year.”

And like any other pitcher, Valenzuela says he knows more about his craft, too. “I know the hitters, I know the league,” he said.

But is he a better pitcher?

“I see no big difference,” he said.

They said Valenzuela was 19 going on 60 when he first appeared on the Dodger scene. He’s 25 now, and he laughs at the notion of being a time-tested veteran.

He also laughs at the idea that he spends much time thinking about what to do with his newly acquired wealth. On Feb. 15, Valenzuela signed a three-year contract for $5.5 million. He’ll get $1.6 million in 1986, making him the highest-paid Dodger.

“I never like the money,” he said, smiling. “. . . It’s another work (job), like being a doctor. You play ball because you like to play. If you’re paid for this, it’s better.”

Valenzuela doesn’t miss the constant media scrutiny he received in 1981, when Fernandomania gripped the big leagues.

“That was a little bit hard for me,” he said. “One day when I pitched in L.A., I didn’t leave the Stadium until 1 a.m. Next time, they put everybody (reporters) all in one room.”

Valenzuela was 17-10 last season with a 2.45 earned run average, the lowest he’s had in the big leagues. He seemed a shoo-in to win 20 games, but won only once in the season’s last five weeks.

He admits now that a tender left ankle and a heavy workload--272 innings last season--took its toll.

“It (the ankle) bothered me a little bit last year,” he said. “Now it’s OK. And I made a lot of pitches, too. My arm was OK, but at the end of the year it was different. Mucho innings.”

Valenzuela had praise for rookie center fielder Jose Gonzalez, who made a difficult over-the-head catch on Jim Pankovits.

“It was a good play, a difficult one because of the wind,” he said. “He can run, catch, and throw. He can hit, too.”

Valenzuela fancies himself as a hitter, too, which is why he expressed mock distress at striking out on three pitches Sunday.

“A bad swing,” he said. “The guys were laughing at me. I hit good last year--.216. The first time I hit over .200.”

Carlos Diaz followed Valenzuela’s three hitless innings Sunday with two more hitless innings. The Dodgers had a no-hitter until Billy Hatcher singled off Dennis Powell with two out in the sixth. Powell gave up Houston’s only run on a 400-foot home run by Astro first baseman Glenn Davis.

Diaz, the only experienced left-hander in the Dodger bullpen last season after Steve Howe’s release, will be sharing that role with Ed Vande Berg this season.

“I always thought there should be two left-handers in the bullpen, no matter what,” Diaz said. “They can use either one of us long or short one day, then the next day we can switch.”

Dodger Notes

Bill Madlock, who had been bothered by phlebitis in his right leg, had three hits, including a double. . . . Jose Gonzalez, filling in for Ken Landreaux (strained muscle on his right side) in center field, made two fine catches. He also struck out with the bases loaded. . . . A record 3,277 spring season tickets were sold for the Dodgers’ 15 games at Holman Stadium.